Ryan Cannon Ray » Photo

Summer Pt.1

Ryan Ray — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 23:55:39 +0000

This summer has been a wild whirlwind of AWESOME. Starting out I helped launch the BourgeaTEA website, and got ready for the release of Origins from John Tibbs in the very first days of summer. Outside of what you could call “work,” Mindy and I bought bikes and concocted a list of things we wanted to try and accomplish before the summer fades away. We’ve done pretty well too, I’ll update that list with a new post soon so you can see what we’ve done. We’re getting ready to tackle more of that list now that I’m back for a bit from traveling with my buds in the ‘John Tibbs’ Worship Experience’. Jokingly that’s what we like to go by, or you can call us ‘John Tibbs and the Lamplighters.’ It has been one of the best experiences of my life to travel with such great people, then on top of that we get to meet a ton of new people, live for a week with hundreds of campers, and worship with all of them! I loved going to church camp in the summer as a student, and now I’ve been able to do that for about 6 weeks. It’s just like being a camper but as “the band” we get to roam around and do just about whatever we want. It’s great! So with that said checkout part one of our summer so far. More about Mindy and the list later!

Valentine’s 2010

Ryan Ray — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 06:49:41 +0000

Happy BELATED Valentine’s Day! Yes I did rent a car and drive about 14 hours round trip to see my beautiful girlfriend Mindy Merenghi for a late Valentine’s Day. Do yourself a favor and read her post all about our belated Valentine’s Day weekend if you want the lowdown. We hung out, watched movies, made jiffy pop, had good mexican food, drank alcohol free wine, cuddled, and just spent time with each other. It is just a little rough managing a long distance relationship, but when you are able see each other it makes all of the waiting seem trivial.

I’m very thankful to know and also to be in a relationship with Mindy. She’s a smart and strong girl, and brings a lot of fun to my life. Otherwise I would probably sit on my butt and learn about photography, web design, etc… and only get outside to play ultimate or skateboard for a little bit. The whole separation through distance hasn’t been fun, but it definitely teaches you a lot. Patience and appreciation are definitely keys to our relationship, if I can speak for the both of us. You couples who get to be with each other every day better realize the luxury you have. Thanks to modern technology a lot of the walls of long distant are worn down, but it still just isn’t the same as being physically there!

I know that this is definitely true for me and many others I’m sure, but Valentine’s used to be one of the least important holiday for me. It still isn’t that cool by itself, seems to be a waning trend amongst young kids. It just so happens to be Mindy and I’s anniversary date though. This now makes it something very worth celebrating, and I think it’s important and nice to have points like anniversaries where you can look back on where you came and also look forward to where you want to go. I wish I could celebrate love and life everyday, but I’m thankful to have someone to love and to love me.

So you tell me now…What do you think about Valentine’s Day, love, long distance relationships? Leave a comment!

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The Best of 2009

Ryan Ray — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 19:14:03 +0000

I know it’s been a few days since 2009 ended, but I still wanted to compile a list of my favorite stuff from 2009. For my life, and from my perspective, it was a great year. Somehow I continue to be blessed by good health, great friends, and awesome opportunities to do what I love. 2009 didn’t always go the way I wanted. My girlfriend for the most part is always about 386 miles away from me. My family situation is always frustrating, I got a few bad grades, etc… But those negative things of the year didn’t keep me down, and they sure didn’t outweigh the positive. I turned 22, a wise old age… got to travel quite a bit with John Tibbs and company, made our own cd, t-shirts, etc… He’s got a lot going for him. I continued to be able to film and take pictures, exploring more and getting to push my creativity to new ends. You can see that soon in my porfolio that’s being built at the moment. Met new people from all over the country and am glad I can call them friends. Growth is happening continually for me, and I’m glad I haven’t become stuck in a rut physically, spiritually, mentally, etc… I thirst for all of these things. So what encapsulated me in 2009? Read on to see.

I wanted to sum up the year in music, film, photos, events, trends, etc… I’ll post all of my favorite things of the year 2009, and I expect for you to comment and agree or disagree with me on these topics. Here’s my best of 2009

The Best of 2009

Album : Fun – Aim and Ignite

Easily album of the year for me because it really is all around fun. I’ve been following The Format and their lead man Nate Ruess for a long time. I was saddened at their end, but excited for what could come from new beginnings. The Format was my favorite band, now of course Fun is. Their bright and light pop sound and fantastic melodies sealed the deal for me. In fact I’m going to listen to this album right now. Thanks guys for getting their songs stuck in my head again! Be sure to check out their music video HERE.

Song : Arcade Fire – Wake Up

This song by Arcade Fire is permanently burned in my head, no thanks to the Where The Wild Things Are trailers I listened to this song ALL YEAR. It never ceased to perk up my mood if I was down or increase my good mood if I was already in one. It’s raw and I like it. Watch their video HERE.

Movie : 3 Way Tie (Avatar : Inglourious Basterds : Where The Wild Things Are)

Why did I end in a 3 way tie? Obviously all 3 of these movies are great, at least in my humble opinion. I feel they also cover almost all styles that anyone could like. A Sci-Fi thriller, a Wacky WWII, and a great childrens story. I chose these three as my best movies of 2009 because I’ll be watching them again and again long into 2010. They are addicting, visually awesome, and fun to watch. I recommend you watch them all!

Photo : Foreclosure and Eviction

This pretty well summed up America this year to me. Financial problems everywhere, especially in the housing market. This is a police officer making sure the house is vacant. It’s often they find after evicting people that homeless people or drug dealers get into the houses, hence his gun is drawn. 2010 will hopefully turn this financial crisis around. It’s at least taught people to be more aware of their money. That’s never a bad thing.

Event : Iran Elections

This is the event of the year for me as it was and still is an ongoing issue. The worlds relations with Iran are all on thin ice, Iran’s people’s relationship with their government is on even thinner ice. That green color will always be burned in my mind during the summer of 2009. I don’t know how to help but I hope it all turns out for the good. Click on the picture to see more pictures from the riots. WARNING the few at the end are graphic.

Internet Trend : FML, People of Walmart, MLIA

These types of sites were probably my favorite thing happening on the internet this year. These sites aren’t complex, nothing fancy about them, but they provide hours and hours of entertainment. Also it’s a plus if they have an iPhone app to compliment their site. I love to waste time reading FML’s and looking at People of Walmart. Click HERE and HERE to check out those websites, as a bonus check out Awkward Family Photos HERE

App of the Year : 2Do

This app wins for me because it is the mother of all my life. It keeps my todo’s, schedules, events, alarms, notes, shopping lists, and more all together! Even better yet it syncs with iCal on my iMac. It’s beautiful but not free, well worth it’s weight in gold though. Whatever that means! It’s got a slick interface, and is password protected to boot. If you want to learn more about the app then here is the iTunes LINK.

That wraps up my 2009, great music, great films, issues relevant to me, etc… Let me know what you think of my choices, and also leave some of your choices. Different album, favorite movie, picture? Thanks for reading!

Can iPhone Photography Be Good?

Ryan Ray — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 21:40:35 +0000

Yes! Of course it can be good, it can be better than good. Many of the shots I see are fantastic. It doesn’t always have to be photography from an iPhone, try shooting from any camera phone. Phones with cameras on them are so ubiquitous these days that everyone owns some form of a camera. I know I may preach a lot about Chase Jarvis but he’s been a great inspiration for me to constantly have my eyes open, ready to shoot that next shot. If you read below about my 7D, you’ll know I have a great camera, but I’m not always out walking around with my 7D. I am with my iPhone though, and the same thing has inspired Chase Jarvis. He’s even made an app and a book and a website all for the iPhone photography. So what’s so awesome about iPhone photography? There’s more after the jump.

The iPhone has a wonderful advantage that for one in it’s latest iteration it has a pretty good camera built into it, secondly it’s all about the apps! Seriously the photo apps out there are insane! I’ll talk about the few I love to use but I’m positive there are more than I can account for just chilling in the app store. The iPhone’s camera is a great tool and the best thing about it is that it’s always with you. This is the mindset Chase has put me in. His motto as of late is, ” The best camera is the one you have with you.”

It means just that… if you see something you could shoot, why wait? For example when I’m walking around campus going to class and eating lunch I’m probably not going to be carrying my 7D around with me. Perhaps sometimes, but not ALWAYS. My iPhone is ALWAYS with me! The point of this is to slightly ignore the technicality of shooting photos and just shoot. You can compose, and edit, and upload instantly from the iPhone. That process is so awesome. Just for once don’t worry about what lens to use, what ISO, aperture, shutter speed, etc… There are moments out there that can be captured everyday by the iPhone. What other choice do you have if you don’t have your “best” camera with you? You wouldn’t want to miss out on a perfect shot.

I’ve started a Flickr Set to share my iPhone photography and will be updating it regularly, probably daily. If you are a photography fan I recommend you start getting into any camera you have with you. Hopefully you will unlock a new world of possibilities. Share your thoughts with me after checking out my Flickr Set. Below in no order are the apps I use.

Color Leap
Night Camera
Photogene
Mill Colour
Camera Bag
Best Camera
Photo Curves
Tilt Shift
Pano

My New Drum Set

Ryan Ray — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 00:12:01 +0000

I know a certain SOMEONE will love to hear that I bought a new drum set, and I think it’s funny that it’ll be a “surprise” through my website. But I did indeed buy a new drum set. For those who care it is an OCDP kit. Orange County Drum & Percussion, they’ve been my dream drum set since I’ve started playing. It’s weird to finally own one because at the time I was in Junior High watching people like Travis Barker, and Adrian Young play on their OCDP kits. I loved their sounds, especially snares, so I was excited about their drums until I noticed their price tags… OUCH. Now that I’ve gained employment and have been playing a lot of drums for John Tibbs, I thought it time to upgrade my kit. I haven’t told any of my band members that it’s here, so SURPRISE to you as well.

The kit was on sale, I splurged, it’s arrived and it looks fantastic! There are a few pictures of the rack tom below. The sizes are in order; 10×8 rack,16×14 floor tom, 22×20 kick. I listed the size of the heads first then depth of the drum, I’m not sure if that’s the correct way but now you know. I can’t wait to get some different heads on it and start getting the kit broke in. I need to also get a second snare stand and hi hat stand for the kit to be complete. Now I’m off to put my old kit together and sell her off! Check out the pictures below and let me know what you think.

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7D Initial Thoughts

Ryan Ray — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 22:57:59 +0000

Well if you weren’t aware, I’m now a proud owner of a Canon EOS 7D camera. This bad boy shoots both great still pictures and up to full 1080p HD video. I just received it yesterday so I’m still making friends with him, and adjusting to all of the new things I can do with this bad boy. My last camera, the Rebel XT, has a nice new home and we may be re-united every once and awhile. Perhaps even this Sunday.

Before I can write up a full review I obviously have to use the camera quite a bit. That’s what I’m trying to do right now. The frigid temperatures are not helping, but I got out today for about 20 minutes maybe. I walked just right in front of my apartment and started shooting the magic hour tones. The other pictures were of the day I got it and whatever was there to shoot, just FYI. I brought out my handy nifty fifty. That’s the Canon 50mm 1.8 (hopefully getting the 1.4 soon), and a Sigma 10-20mm 4-5.6 lens. That’s a nice variety to test some shots out with. Just playing around is helping me get use to the menu setup, changing settings as I shoot in Manual, setting up the wireless sync, etc… I also experimented with some beautiful looking video on the camera. I have a Rode Videomic that I didn’t bring out today, but shooting at 1080p 24fps was great. The video will be up tonight shortly after this post.

Overall I am already digging on this camera. It’s only drawback, it’s not full frame. That’s quite alright with me at the moment, that’ll be my next upgrade to a super great full frame camera. Anyway, here are my test shots. Let me know what you think about this 7D!

Chasing The Sun Pt.2

Ryan Ray — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 16:00:30 +0000

Once again I’ve got more photos to look at. I promise these are different though than the first part of this quest. I went out driving around the countryside yesterday evening searching for more sunset locations instead of sunrise. As far as great sunsets it was a failure, but I still got some fun pictures. I also apparently missed a really colorful sunset. If I could only keep my directions straight! My tripod has a compass on it and all night I kept wanting to go east when the sun rises from the east, doh! Anyway I got a much better HDR shot this time around and I also messed with some long exposure times aiming down from the edge of an overpass onto the highway.

This is all stuff I’ve always seen done, but have never taken the time to go and practice this stuff myself. It is the only way to get better is to just start shooting stuff. Especially if you start shooting stuff you’ve never done. For instance just look at my first HDR compared to this one. It’s UGLY, haha and I’m sure they will keep getting better as I figure out what works for them. Enjoy the pictures, there aren’t as many as last time. These were all shot in or around Rolla, MO btw. If only my DSLR had geotagging…

Chasing The Sun Pt.1

How To Make an HDR Image With Photoshop & Photomatix

Ryan Ray — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 18:17:41 +0000

Finally today we’re going to have a video that is about something else other than skateboarding. I love skateboarding and all, it’s just time to diversify my podcast a little. So as you found out earlier in another post I went out, “Chasing The Sun”, as I’ll call it. I’m working with a fellow named John Tibbs who I also play drums for. We’re going on a short tour and you’ll hear plenty about that, no worries. On his project we want to first create a great Myspace layout for this tour. We recorded one song during the winter and it’s titled “Glorious Morning” hence my need to find a great spot for a sunrise and/or sunset. I’ll explain more of that later, but it’s what inspired me to do this post. I went and paid a whopping $4 to get into Meramec Springs State Park, and drove up to the scenic lookout. I realized I was a little late for the sunrise, but I’d try shoot some stuff I’ve never tried before. With that said I shot an HDR and a Panoramic shot.

If you are unfamiliar with what an HDR shot is, then read this HERE for a great explanation. Flickr always has great knowledge from it’s users, plus you can then see their great HDR work. Be sure to check mine out first as I’m new to the game and my shot is MUCH worse than their work. In my own simple words HDR, or High Dynamic Range, is simply taking anywhere from 3-5 photos at different shutter speeds and exposures. For instance the shots you will see below from both Photoshop and Photomatix are a combination of 3 images. When I was shooting I first set it at -1 in the light meter, then at 0, then at +1. As you can infer this captures all of the highlights, lowlights, and then a normal exposure. It’s when they are combined that the picture get’s really interesting.

Since my image was such a crap shot anyway I went for a real plasticky, cartoony, whatever you want to call it effect. I know some people ABSOLUTELY HATE that effect from HDR images, but it’s fun to experiment with so please quit whining that I don’t do everything the way you want me to. I used Photoshop CS4 and Photomatix to compare results. Hands down Photomatix HDR functions work a lot better than Photoshops, especially for an HDR novice like me. One surprising tidbit is that I had to combine to HDR images from Photoshop to get the same effect from the one in Photomatix. I’m sure there is some more complex steps to make it work great in Photoshop, but why do that when Photomatix is simple and works great. Now I’ve created a video for you that will quickly show how to get started in the world of HDR using both Photoshop CS4 and Photomatix. First here are my two images.

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Chasing The Sun Pt.1

Ryan Ray — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 14:00:11 +0000

If you’ve been keeping up with me on Twitter you’ll know that I sent out a tweet for help earlier this week. I said, “A question for anyone in MO, where is the best spot to watch a sunrise/sunset? I need to photograph one this week, I’ll take any suggestions.” Yet another reason why I love Twitter, I got a lot of responses and even some through my old friend Facebook. We’ll love on Twitter some more in another post, in the mean time I got some great suggestions and went to scope one out early this morning at about 7:15. This one is located inside Meramec Spring Park just outside of St. James, MO. It’s known worldwide for it’s great trout fishing, but it’s also hidden inside some of the great hills of Missouri. Since it has hills there is a historic drive that will lead you right up to the scenic overlook that obviously overlooks the hills and park nestled below it.

Sadly for me and my photographs hopes I was too late to catch a great sunrise, but I decided that since I paid 4 dollars to get in I was going to make it worth it. I practiced some HDR photography. trying to hone those skills in. Also shot a really quick and not so great panoramic that you will see later. Then I headed back down the hill to one of the playground and cook out areas to just see what there was to shoot. Luckily there was some cool equipment to photograph and so I did. Below you can check out all the shots I took there this morning. Some of them turned out pretty good, and some weren’t so good (like the sunrise ones). Lesson be learned head out before the sun even starts rising if you want catch some great shots, all wasn’t lost though I have one location scoped out and got some fun shots to boot. Enjoy, and let me know which one is your favorite.

Maryville Summer ’09

Ryan Ray — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 16:14:44 +0000

On the whim of Mindy wanting to see her cousin that was in Maryville I tagged a long and went to see Christy, Grandma, cousins, uncles, turtles, fishes, etc… obviously I always bring my camera with me, now I need to start doing this with my skateboard as well since skateparks are randomely within one block of where I’m sleeping. But as the weekend went on I actually got to take a lot of pictures. At least more than I am accustomed to. I even got the little cousin and new baby to let me snap some shots of them. I wish I could have got more of Mindy’s new cousin Amelia, but perhaps another time because she was a cutie.

It was nice to randomely drive six hours and hang out with their family. We went fishing while trying to stay out of the way of golfers, did plenty of baby watching, homework, eating where a person was murdered, sweating in the ever hot house, etc… Maryville must be a crazy place even though not appearing so. We even witnessed one turtle laying eggs that I got to photograph, and another turtle (alligator snapping turtle) trying to cross the road and a man kicking it while a police woman watched. I didn’t want to try and put my lense in the snapping turtles face, he probably would have taken it off.

Speaking of lenses, you’ll see that in some of these pictures I was experimenting with two new add ons I got for my camera. One is a fish eye adapter. While not a true fish eye lens it works for someone that can’t spend $700 on a nice Canon fisheye lens. It has some obvious distortion at the edges, but it still fun enough to play with and get some interesting looking shots. I also got a macro attachment that I tested out one some of the flowers there. I’ll be posting all of these below so you can see and judge for yourself if these new toys were worth it.

Maryville is a fun place to hang out, at least as long as family is there. I’m not sure I’d stick around long without anyone to see. Polly’s house is a little too smokey for me to be hanging with her, haha. Now enjoy some photos and let me know what you think about them. How about you pick a favorite? Thanks for reading.